Lets start at the beginning of my journey with this "corporation" that I didnt realized owned so many schools here in the USA.
In 2001 I began attending a school formely known as HARRINGTON INSTITUTE OF INTERIOR DESIGN now called Harrington College of Design. My admissions representative not counselor was an older gentlemen, I let him know that I went to a college prepatory high school that majority of the classes I have already taken my freshmen and sophomore year while attending high school. Therefore I shouldnt have to take these classes he assured me that they will look into it to make sure that I shouldnt take the class.
Went on a tour of the school did the whole financial aid so on so forth seemed like too much money but this is the career that I wanted and this "was suppose to be the best school in the nation for interior design" its in my home town. Sure enough they never looked into my drafting, computerated drafting, design, nor art classes that it took for 2 - 4 years in high school.
This was my first year in college so I didnt know that they were to give a list of the books that you will need the materials that I would need. So on the first day of school everyone has to stand in line and wait and pay FULL PRICE FOR BOOKS and need i remind you all of the books they had in stock were brand new. So im asking around what in the materials package all the rest of the students were just as clueless as I come to find out that all of the things in this package I already had from high school and the materials added up to $700 even if I went out and bought new things I could've gotten it for half of this price.
So I decided not to be upset have positive attitude I go to my first art classes we are learning such things like mixing colors as if we were in grammar school, I go to my drafting class its a begginners drafting class, so i try to drop the class and get into an advanc class they ask why do you want to do this your teacher says you are doing very well "THIS IS BECAUSE I TOOK THIS CLASS 2 YEARS AGO ALREADY" they didnt even offer testing out of classes. I go to my english 101 classes she asks us "what is a noun" we are looking at each other thinking why is she asking us this question? Someone answers she had the impression that we didnt know the answer, after the person replied she says h so you know what it is. All of us are thinking are you SERIOUS!
So i decided that this is not the school for me that Im wasting my time and parents money. I try to drop all of my classes I must do exit counselling and she ask same question why do you wan to leave. Then come to find out if you drop a class after third week you owe 75% so im in debt for going to school taking a refresher course.
2 years later unbeknown to me I ended up going to their SISTER school.inTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY has a nice ring to it, thats all it has to offer. Just like in other reports mentioned never ask for ACT, SAT, scores I didnt even take a test to be placed into classes. So Im taking my normal classes some of them the teaching was up to par others extremely mediocre. While attending this school in just one semester I had 3 TEACHERS SAY IN VERY FEW WORDS "you all don't learn half as much as my other students at the other schools I teach at" Basically the curriculum is made for you to pass with flying colors. Believe me high school was much more challenging than this school could ever be. I was very much into wanting to finish my degree but i notice that lots of my classmates were dropping out left to right. Basically saw everything that I saw at Harrington that the school is very much money hungry. So I go on to my second quarter in school.
As mentioned before there were no other financial aid options other than private... (because they dont support their contract for payment) I was on a payment plan that I was to pay $250 a month. So I did but when I go to get a book voucher, they somehow change the rule while we were on break that your payments need to be in on the first in order to get a voucher for all the books. My payments were due on the 18th of every month. We came back to school at the end of the month. So therefore I was only able to get a $250 voucher for my books, but all the books i needed add up to at least $500 so I pretty much could only attend 2 out of my 5 classes. There was no way of going around it. Even though my contract i signed with them said otherwise. Therefore I was forced to leave or end up getting c or less because my homework would be late would not be able to study for quiz or tests that we had.
I go through exiting made sure THIS TIME I DIDNT OWE ANYTHING got a paper saying so, I picked up my transcript they called up stairs made sure that i didnt owe any financial aid I was on my way. 60 days later I get notice in the mail that I owe $1779 for financial aid. I say no I dont owe anwything because I only went to class the first week and I was signed out of Financial aid and received a transcript saying I dont owe any money. This lady harrassed me everyday trying to send me somethings saying otherwise I told her I could understand if i owed for books but I dont. So she says well then give us the $250 for books and then you can be on a payment plan. I refused her again so she sent it to a collection agency. I contacted him and also fax him proof that i dont owe anything that im presently in school with credits that transfered. (another private school because if i go to public school i would have to take everything back over) He too agreed with me.
A year later they send to another collections agency saying I owe now just a week ago I receive another mail from this same collection agency saying that I owe $1779 an additional $3000 because they sent the collection agency their new catalog that says if you drop after THREE DAYS!!! YOU OWE 75% my catalog was very much different it was 3 weeks.
Im tired of fighting with this company im tired of this refecting on my credit report.
Arlene
Chicago, Illinois
U.S.A.
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